Tigers sweep all to become 2022 South African champions and will head to BAL qualifiers

JOHANNESBURG (South Africa) - The Cape Town Tigers will make a return to the Basketball Africa League (BAL) zonal qualifiers after being crowned South African National Club Champions on Sunday afternoon at the Mandeville Sport Complex in Johannesburg.

Tigers blitzed rivals Jozi Nuggets 88-67 in the final game of the round robin competition, which also included Tshwane Suns, who finished the competition with an 0-2 record.

The final game saw the Cape Town team, who participated in last year’s BAL tournament, dominate the Nuggets.

International recruit Raphael Putney from the United States of America, scored a game-high 27 points. Team captain and forward Pieter Prinsloo and Central African Republic shooting guard Evans Ganapamo contributed 20 points each.

New Tigers coach Florsh Ngwenya, complimented to the losing team for being a worthy adversary and highlighted that games of this nature are a necessity for the growth of South African basketball.

"I think we did okay. It was a good game of basketball. Nuggets came out firing which we expected. They have a good coach and veteran core and a bunch of young guys who can play. I think we need more games like this for the will help to improve the game in the country,” said the former South African national team coach.

 
Ngwenya also discussed his plans for the zonal qualifying tournament, and pointed out that his first act after winning the championship, would be to give his players rest.

"This weekend has shown us we cannot take anything for granted. So, one of the things we want to do is to give the players rest. Once we have recharged, we will focus on matters like our chemistry on and off the court ahead of the qualifiers,” said Ngwenya, who is a multiple-title winning in South Africa’s Basketball National League.

Ngwenya also pointed out there will be a lot of work to be done. "We need work on our defensive rebounding and our communication as well. I think Pieter has done a great job in bringing everybody together. The team follows his leadership. I am humbled to have a captain, who can lead from the front. Our preparation will be intense and hopefully Nuggets will again help us with our preparation.”

Winning captain Prinsloo, who will lead the team for the second time in the BAL qualifiers, looked ahead to the zonal qualifiers and believes that this year's team will be much better.

“I think last year in terms of talent we assembled a good team on paper, but we had few players that did not fit what the team needed and that broke the chemistry. That hurt us last year in the qualifiers and in the BAL tournament. I think management this year have worked hard to rectify the situation. We have brought some of our core back and the additions of Dhie Deng and Raphael Putney have helped have helped with our cohesion."

 FIBA